


The Concept of Tea in the BBC's Sherlock Fan Fiction

by Aliada



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Character Analysis, Coffee, Everyone else is just enjoying the view, Fanwork Research & Reference Guides, Heavy symbolism all around the place, John is the only one up to the task, Meta, Sherlock always needs a cuppa, Tea, Which gets even heavier in the second chapter
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-07
Updated: 2017-08-07
Packaged: 2018-12-12 10:09:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,597
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11734878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aliada/pseuds/Aliada
Summary: A cup of tea may not seem so eloquent for most people, but for Sherlock and John it certainly is. Sometimes in the way none of them expected.





	The Concept of Tea in the BBC's Sherlock Fan Fiction

So, the first thing to know is that Sherlock and John are British, thus – tea-drinking is traditional. “Traditional” is linked to “national” which gives us three basics: _endurance_ , _benefit_ and _lightness_. Obviously, it’d have been too cheesy to take a “John is a soldier – soldiers are keen on tea” direction since if John, let’s say, had been a writer there could have equally been hundreds of similar symbol-based references. Obviously, there will be SOME of them since analyzing literature always goes this way – _should_ go this way, but since tea-drinking, using William H. Ukers’ clever wording, always fills all the gaps as it is, I’ll try my best to avoid the temptation of doing so here.

Outlining the main points, it’d be useful to divide the aforementioned _tradition_ into 2 groups: 1) social (historical) concept; 2) philosophical concept. Mainly skipping the first one – apart from the fact that tea is quite contradictory since it tends to be an “inside” drink and at the same time some sort of a social position indicator – let’s move on to explaining the second one. It’s basically the ground for every interpretation, so it has a lot of “branches” which will be unfolded further.

**PART I. BEVERAGE FOR THE SOUL**

**The Drugless Drug, or How to Escape Painful Clarity**

There exist a lot of names for what we call “beverage from leaves in a bowl”. Taking a “no-made-up-complications” approach, let’s pay attention to the key points. One of them is called _“ills of passion”_ – not a feeling itself, but a problem tea successfully gets rid of. “No drugs – no intoxication” – that’s the short summary for it. It’s _calm_. It’s _casual_. It doesn’t clear head – like coffee does – but _keeps_ it clear instead. A mere fun fact? Maybe. But one with a bunch of follow-ups behind it. Let’s take a quick look at canon:

1) Sherlock doesn't usually make tea;

2) Sherlock doesn’t drug tea (but has no problem with drugging coffee);

3) “Cup of tea” as a code – meaning two concepts at once:

a) drugs being a negative thing (because there is no remedy, can’t possibly be since it’s something deeply planted in Sherlock’s personality);

b) drugs being equally drugs (addiction to John) and the cure (Mrs. Hudson making tea = something normal, casual, _healthy_ , despite being grimly inevitable under more difficult circumstances).

Quite a contradiction here. The Drug or The Cure? Or something in-between? The first point proves that Sherlock by no means represents _calm_ and _casual_ by himself (it’s not his area of expertise, so tea can only come from the outside, be enforced somehow). The second one points out his need, and understanding, of that enforcement, which still remains outlandish yet deeply cherished at the same time (drugging (= changing = spoiling) can only be applied to coffee, with tea it would feel more unnatural and wrong). The third point significantly complicates things. It’s a dead-end. Tea, which was imposed as a cure for the madness of high, itself becomes a drug when John leaves. It becomes a painful reminder of pleasant, calming routine which he can no longer have (“no longer” being the key point). Yet it can still be curing provided “the main incentive” (John) returns.

**How to Brew a Perfect Cuppa of Attention: Fan Fiction Style**

 Fan fiction doesn’t only confirm this theory, but also expands it. So how does it happen?

1) Sherlock always needs tea;

2) John is the only one who can make it properly (“John’s tea is the best ever” cliché);

3) Sherlock doesn’t usually drug tea – pretty much the repetition of the canon theory (“Cup of Tea” by AniKey, though, has an unusual twist in the form of Moriarty doing the drugging = poisoning, which is lethal and seems so much more terrifying than other weapon would have been);

4) Sherlock tries to make tea and – mainly – fails (or makes a ridiculous number of attempts).

“John’s Tea” by Manzy is a perfect example of what we could call a _traditional plot._ It also makes us wonder: why is “graduate chemist”, taking Molly’s wording, unable to make a cup of tea? Looking back to canon, Mrs. Hudson makes Sherlock tea and he doesn’t know where it comes from, it just “sort of happens”. Does this mean that Sherlock himself never made tea? It might. But I rather doubt it. It’s more about endless supply, evidence of care, not inability of some kind. “Sort of happens” = “happens on a regular basis” = “frequent enough not to need more and, thus, having to do it himself”.

But fan fiction does something so much trickier with it:

a) Sherlock’s _actually_ unable to make a cuppa (not just not putting enough effort into it);

b) Sherlock has to interact with John (= show his need) to have this cuppa.

All the opportunities for “fix-it” chat are here, clear and loud. So, going back to Manzy’s frustrated Sherlock who (a red-pencil note!) makes _John’s tea,_ because his own tea, by his judgment, is bad. So what does Sherlock want? A cuppa? Or John’s undivided attention? We should think, the answer is centuries old.

**PART II. SHERLOCK**

**Curing the “Sort-of-Happened” Ignorance, or How Sherlock Discovered Tea, and John Along with It**

 “Tea” by Lady of Immortals has a “tea-indifferent” Sherlock who eventually develops a soft spot for the drink through his infatuation with John. I’d call this a pre-stage (where _the push_ hasn’t yet been given). The same goes for the famous _milk matter_ which is thoroughly hated by Sherlock (because it deprives him of John’s presence – the degree of self-*or rather John*- imposed misery differs from author to author).  CaffieneKitty’s Sherlock, however, makes the trip to the shops himself, which, sadly, isn’t that much of a success either.

In most cases, tea cures absolutely _everything_ , including Sherlock’s never-ending boredom. In “Finger Slip” by Pawtal there is a fine exchange with Lestrade, who is wondering since when Sherlock got so interested in tea. And Sherlock tells him that it happened “since John”. Tea-not-drinking is taken to another level here. Sherlock wasn’t just not keen on it – he didn’t drink it _at all_. John didn’t just make him like it, he made its existence known for Sherlock, showed him that there IS a cure for boredom. I doubt he could’ve come up with something more epic even if he tried.

**The Powers of Discovery, or How to Successfully ~~Irritate John~~ Demand Tea**

Sometimes the mentions are quite casual but no less significant. “The Art of Negotiation” by entanglednow doesn’t only describe Sherlock’s “it sort of happened” habits (like buying milk and expecting it to turn into tea, and miraculously getting it) but turns them into another inevitable trope – experimenting (which, no worries here, ISN’T conducted on tea – a humble piece of bread is bound to suffer the damage this time, if you can imagine all the dreadful things one can grow there).

“Texts and Tea” by JillianWarson1058 offers an especially eager Sherlock, who is demanding a cup of tea in the middle of the night, and spices it up with a reliable “no-bullshit” John.

A more dramatic aspect is developed in “Tea Like Yours” by Bracket_the_Indecie which is, quite amusingly, makes John’s tea the only reason for Sherlock to get up in the mornings. _John’s_ being the key note – just like before, with an additional stress on another (not John’s) cup going cold (the everlasting metaphor for something abandoned = unimportant). Night-morning sequence introduces something that could be called “unsteady points”. Stephen King’s said, “At three in the morning the soul either sleeps in blessed ignorance of such an hour or gazes about itself in utter despair. There is no middle ground.” Ray Bradbury describes a close thing: his “despair” is murderous, something that makes people into “living dead”.  Some grim playfield here .

**The Eternal Tale of Cardiac John and Analytical Sherlock**

Going back, in some headcanons Sherlock’s tea-making attempts ARE successful which turns the narrative sideways. To understand the difference, let us look at some experiment fics. Almost all of them use experiment as a disguise, behind which is nothing but good old attention seeking. But the main point is that tea is not Sherlock’s area (or “division”, if we were to tire of Sherlock and John’s hurdles and have a go at Lestrade – who will, by the way, appear later on for some cutlery business). Tea is emotional, cardiac, John’s. No matter how many interpretations there are, the key note is always the same. John is the one who makes _the tea_. Of course, there is also Mrs. Hudson, but no one can substitute John. So, what is Sherlock’s typical reaction to emotional stuff? Analysis.

“Tea and Experiments” by swtalmnd offer a great proof for that. “To Sherlock, everything's an experiment. Even biscuits.” Why “even biscuits”? Because making – and drinking tea – is a ritual in itself, a magical thing which is not to be disturbed. And biscuits are the part of that ritual. Sherlock does the disturbing, though, because he has to _understand_. For John, understanding is much simpler because it’s based on emotional experience. Can Sherlock follow his lead? He can, sometimes even wants, needs to – but his mind doesn’t work like that. What’s self-explainable to John, has to be spelled out for Sherlock – not because he can’t see what John is seeing, but because he can’t fully believe in it, rely on it like John does. Analytical part of his mind overshadows the emotional one, EVEN when he himself understands that emotions would do a better job. So, first off, we have a safety aspect unraveled.

**Sherlock’s Recipe for Scientific Disaster, or How to Brew a Sentiment**

Tea – being a “cardiac” subject – requires some more digging, though. And works that fit into the “Sherlock is a tea-maker” category have some convincing examples to take a look at. In which way would Sherlock make tea (if there happens to be no John around)? To back up the previous theory, I believe it’d be methodical and precise. Of course, it could be something of an automatic thing between cases, just to keep hydrated – but then again, why would Sherlock bother to do that if there is always a John around? “Tea” by MapleleafCameo is quite to answer this question, not to mention that it’s very realistically “scientific” (sugar formula, brewing time – and that’s not the end of it). Basically, we have a Reichenbach Sherlock who is back, who is brilliant as ever, and who is having those nostalgic memories of his Grandfather making a milked tea. Not so classical on the surface, but very much so on the inside. Both memories – of John and Grandfather – is a “sentiment”, and it’s connected with tea in both cases, while Sherlock’s feelings for John are additionally stressed by the fact that Sherlock is making tea in John’s mug which – hypothetically – makes it _John’s tea_.  

**Sherlock the Romantic and John the Experimentator (or How to Make a Tea Demand: John’s Style)**

Some works just offer a few lines from which we understand that Sherlock makes tea, but usually the purpose of it is not the tea itself, but the fact that it’s being made for John. Such role reversal isn’t rare and while it’s not as eloquent as “Sherlock needs John to make him tea” plot (where John = heart of the show = feelings = tea) it sure spices things up a bit. “A Hot Cup of Tea”  by Amles80 makes those “spices” more than pleasant to swallow. “Bringing a cup of tea, that sure isn't the textbook definition of an act of love, but if that's all he can get, John is going to take it.” The plot is simple: John is ill and Sherlock makes him tea. Not getting cases, not doing experiments, but involving into monotonous routine without any intellectual rewards.  It’s doubtful a story could be more romantic.

Another body of works consists of more intense role reversal, where John wants tea and aggressively demands it from Sherlock, and Sherlock is actually obliging as far as to ask Mycroft for one (“Cup of Tea” by TheFellowshipOfOreos). In this universe, Sherlock is quite adept at tea making but he has John do it for him, so basically everything gets down to John paying attention to him with a nice cuppa as a side-effect. The next not-so-ordinary, and frankly _bored_ , John appears in “Matter Of Taste” by Emilie Yun _._ And even-less-ordinary Sherlock actually suggests that John is trying to poison him with a new tea brand he bought. Eventually, the whole thing turns into delicious *hot-cold* kissing – a part of John’s (!) experiment. And even though in terms of characterization I’d rather call this “upside down classics”, it does remain traditional in the realm of symbolism (that is, Sherlock adoring his practical, reliable John who always has a cup of good old tea in his hands – which, in Sherlock’s mind, makes him even more reliable).

**PART III. JOHN**

**The Solid Aftertaste of War**

Now about John. He’d be most likely treating tea in a stable, “comfy” manner with a few of very British habits thrown in (precise number of cups a day, sticking to the same tea brand, etc.). There is an endearingly traditional John in “Sunday Night” by out_there _._ Sherlock, on the contrary, is rather un-British-like, at least on Sundays when they have croissants with an “overpriced pot of tea”. An outside environment is usually not very tea-friendly, but here it serves additional purpose – it makes things fancy, “official”, ready to become something more than discrete tea drinking in 221B. It stands out and makes us wonder about leaving the comfort zone and possible consequences of it. In this case, John is represented, “shielded” by tradition in general, which overshadows individuality. But what happens if we go further and try to see what _exactly_ makes John’s tea so good? _How_ good is he actually? Most works don’t go into specifics. In a nutshell: it’s just tea, sugar, milk, and boiled water, but it comes out perfect because John is the one who makes it. Too naïve? Not enough reasoning? Is it needed at all? Basically, it’s the same thing as asking someone why they prefer one food and despise the other. The point isn’t in tea being graded, but in the degree of Sherlock and John’s mutual affection which comes with it.

One of the most daring pieces on that is “Black Gold, Texas Tea” by Iwantthatcoat _._ It’s narrated by Sherlock himself, and there are mentions of John’s Afghanistan past (national aspect of tea drinking as a bonus: soldiers drinking tea even in the most exhausting heat), which is alone enough to make an unusual story, but Iwantthatcoat keeps the fun up. Instead of just going with “John’s tea is the only thing to make Sherlock high enough so he’d not get _unnaturally_ high”, it also covers no less important “outside-inside” dichotomy (tea in the café isn’t even hot enough to give off steam, only home tea is real). It’s the story where “what comes out of it” works as a substitution for “how was that actually done” – and it looks natural enough because we don’t really expect a recipe here.

The recipe isn’t given in “The Art of Life” by Odamaki either. It’s a fascinating tea shop story, which makes John’s need for a tea habit even more evident – and not just some random, peacefully acquired habit, but one which was imposed by circumstances. Afghanistan tea doesn’t taste well – it’s cheap, over-stewed, lacks the milk – but it’s sincere, it’s safe, and just what John needs. And, what is even more important, it’s made by Sherlock, who understand John’s obsessions like no one else. The general “soldiers drink tea” metaphor gets shattered and pieced together again. It’s not “a story” anymore – it’s John’s story, which is firmly mixed with Sherlock’s from that very first time the first sip is taken. Odamaki shows it as something ordinary, casual – and yet something that never ceases to captivate.

 **John’s Quite** **a** **Guy, or How to Brew Tea** **W** **ithout Tea Leaves**

It’s interesting, though, to take a look at the stories where the process at least partly described. One of those rare treasures is “No Sugar, Please” by Tashilover _,_ which once again proves that John doesn’t just make _a cup_ of tea but always _the cup_. The fun part is that he _the cup_ doesn’t necessarily mean that there will be actual tea leaves in it, it could be pretty much anything as long as John feels like it (from rotten tomatoes to weed) – BUT, and this is the most important thing, it will still be called “tea”. John calls it so, thinks of it as such – and so do everyone around him. So, what’s the secret ingredient that turns everything into tea? I’m inclined to think that there is no one. The logic is rather simple: John’s epitomizing tea, so everything he makes automatically becomes tea. The advantage of this reading is that it makes “weird” into “special”. So, John’s “tea” is colored accordingly to his relationship with other people and how he views himself during different life-stages. At first, it’s very much Sherlockian experiment (and quite extreme one, if chopped up earthworms is anything to go by). Later – it’s Sherlock, who himself becomes the experiment (even though usually it’s the other way around). But John’s intent is clearly different from Sherlock’s. His experiments are less disturbing and more “apollonian” (if it could be brought down to that chaos/order sequence). John uses two things to make Sherlock a cuppa – some breadcrumbs and skin from an old orange, which have at least one thing in common and that is warm colors. At the same time they are as different as two things can get without becoming opposites. Orange skin gives sharp spark and overall dynamics that calls the tune, and breadcrumbs are more about consistency and that mellow, warm feeling which makes sure the tune reaches its end. At this point, I’m more than tempted to draw a parallel with Sherlock and John but it seems way too cheesy, so I’d rather analyze this strictly from the point of their relationship as a whole because, hypothetically speaking, there always could be a role reversal of some sort.

**“Instant Moodiness”: Why Coffee isn’t Enough**

And it kind of happens in “Tea-Induced” by Roselna _,_ which gets back at the coffee drugging in THB, and at the same time expands the “cardiac” theory. Scenery changes completely. John is the “bad boy” this time, but he doesn’t drug coffee (which is automatically subjective of rational, “unfeeling” intent), he drugs tea (which must serve emotional, “warm” purpose). And so it does. The tea is induced with no other thing than sleeping mixture, and rest-deprived Sherlock goes out like a light. In John’s tea, drugging stops being drugging and turns into forced – yet needed – relaxation, heavily reminding of the TST stag night.

Some of the works take another approach and instead of stating that John is a tea guy (although in the previous example he was more of a tea lord) they give him some other drink to try and enjoy (which he of course does not). “No More Coffee” by Sexy.Lil.Emo offers a hilarious addition in form of an over-persistent Sherlock who doesn’t want his John to drink “instant moodiness”, so a brand-new jar of it goes right into the bin, and John goes right back to being his “calm, at ease and yet alert” self. A win-win situation.

In another one-shot – “Stronger Than Tea” by onyx-rose26 – John drinks coffee because he needs something stronger, a substitution for Sherlock who has yet to return from the dead. Tea – which was enough earlier – isn’t enough now, which tells us that this John is definitely “sharper” than he looks and in need of some kicks to make him feel alive all over again. So we get a coping mechanism. It is also grief – no doubt about that, but also a conscious desire to go back to the state he has been in when Sherlock was there, a state which became normal to him by now – strong tart flavor, almost painful alertness, pounding heart. But all that, understandably, doesn’t replace Sherlock and doesn’t fix the thing Sherlock was able to fix – John’s limp.

In Tea Thesaurus by Ukers there is an interesting entry about tea as a beverage (supposedly, tea can be much more). I won’t be mentioning every one of those mind-twisting and often very much Sherlockian meatphors, but the following examples are rather interesting to look at: “life-long beverage friend” (this could make a nice “Sherlock and John are soulmates” theory) and “luscious nepenthe of the soul that grieves”. “Nepenthe” – soothing, helping to forget, but John who poisons himself with coffee doesn’t want to forget, he wants _back,_ wants to feel alive because nothing could make him feel more so than being with Sherlock. Of course not drinking tea could be a mere reluctance to go back to painful memories but if John really didn’t want to remember, tea wouldn’t have been “not enough”, it’d be bitter, meaningful, hard to look at, etc. – and I’m not even mentioning all the possible metaphors it could turn into.

All of this is inevitably heading for symbolism of a more expanded nature. I’ve been holding back with everything I had in this entry so it’d not sound like I’m analyzing my research instead of discussing works. But another entry – or a second part – will have a more heavily loaded material where the avoidance won’t be possible any longer, so we’ll just have to jump right in!

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Special thank you to all the talented writers, whose works inspired me to create this analysis:
> 
> 1\. Cup of Tea by AniKey  
> 2\. John’s Tea by Manzy  
> 3\. Tea by Lady of Immortals  
> 4\. For Want of a Tea by CaffieneKitty  
> 5\. Finger Slip by Pawtal  
> 6\. The Art of Negotiation by entanglednow  
> 7\. Texts and Tea by JillianWatson1058  
> 8\. Tea Like Yours by Bracket_the_Indecie  
> 9\. Tea and Experiments by swtalmnd  
> 10\. Tea by MapleleafCameo  
> 11\. A Hot Cup of Tea by Amles80  
> 12\. Cup of Tea by TheFellowshipOfOreos  
> 13\. Matter Of Taste by Emilie Yun  
> 14\. Sunday Night by out_there  
> 15\. Black Gold, Texas Tea by Iwantthatcoat  
> 16\. The Art of Life by Odamaki  
> 17\. No Sugar, Please by Tashilover  
> 18\. Tea-Induced by Roselna  
> 19\. No More Coffee by Sexy.Lil.Emo  
> 20.Stronger Than Tea by onyx-rose26
> 
> Some points for the theoretical base were taken from the works of William H. Ukers, which were so truly overwhelming in their depth and consistency that I had to forcibly keep my imagination from getting too wild :D Some thoughts, however, just couldn’t be helped, so I relented and put them here. Another thing which fueled it all up was the amazing "More Tea Please, We’re Sherlocked" by wellingtonhoose.


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